A Small Rebellion

by GraceFace16

Chapter 3

Summer passes in a meaningless blur. For all intents and purposes, the Hero of Hyrule’s life is the same as it’s always been. He practices in the training yard, guards outside the Princess’ door, and carries the same burden he always has with that immoveable grace that has come to define him. From an outsider’s perspective, nothing about him has changed. 

Link knows the truth. Everything about him has changed, because he has a girlfriend. 

Link has a girlfriend. A secret girlfriend. Who just so happens to be the Princess. The thought should scare him; terrify him even. If they were caught… Gods, he doesn’t even know what would happen. Instead, it just makes him smile. Sneaking around with her, stealing kisses in dark corners, sharing secret glances… it just feels so right. And a part of him did enjoy the rebelliousness of it all. When he’s with her, he can set aside all his worries, all the burden and fear that the sword brought and just become another stupid teenager. 

And while he does love the heady side of their relationship (he swears he’ll never tire of having her lips and hands drag all over him), he thinks the sweet ones might just be his favorite. 

One memory stands out in particular. About a fortnight after they became ‘official’, as he’s come to dub it in his mind, there was a banquet held in the castle gardens. After appetizers were served, Zelda wandered off from the main party to get some space, waving discreetly to get him to follow her. Initially, as they strolled amicably down the secluded garden pathways, he thought she would pull him aside to some hidden corner. Maybe she would try to sneak a couple kisses, or, if she was feeling particularly daring that day, pin him to the wall and stick her tongue in his mouth. 

That never happened. Instead, once they were far enough away from the party, she simply took his hand in hers. Their fingers twined together like it was the most natural thing in the world. Neither of them said a single word, but it was clear that neither felt the need. It was enough, being close to one another. It was more than enough. 

Somehow, those moments make him feel even stupider than all the snogging. 

As the longest day of the year comes and passes, there’s a thought that won’t leave him. It nags at him from the moment he wakes up to the moment he goes to sleep, and most pressingly when he’s with her. It lingers in the way she kisses him, in the way she looks at him, in the way he aches for her even when she’s beside him.

You’re falling for her, the voice says. It feels wrong. He can’t be falling for her. Part of him wants to believe it’s because he’s in total control of his emotions; that the logical side of him has finally won, the part that knows they can never truly be together. 

The other part of him knows the more plausible answer. He can’t be falling for her, because he already has. 

He doesn’t want to admit it yet. Maybe it’s fear. Maybe it’s that he wants her to say it first. Maybe he secretly hopes it will fade away. But there are moments, like when she held his hand, where he thinks it might not be so bad. Maybe falling in love with her is the right thing to do. 

Besides, he thinks as he strokes her hair, her head in his lap. A little change never hurt anyone. 

 

—

 

The Princess is acting coy today. Suspiciously coy. 

When she exited her door to greet him, she didn’t sneak a quick kiss to his cheek like she usually does. Nor did she even flash him a warm smile, or a kindhearted ‘Hello’. Instead, her greeting was a simple ‘good morning’, prim and proper, devoid of their usual levity. 

At first, he worried he did something to upset her. Then he saw the way her shoulders were set, the feigned nonchalance of her posture, and most importantly, the small smile tugging at her lips. No, she wasn’t upset. But she was toying with him. 

“I’m afraid I will have a very busy day today.” She throws the words over her shoulder at him, hardly even looking in his direction. “Royal duties. You understand, of course.”

“Of course,” he replies. She does this sometimes; reverting back into the formal language of their roles, when she wants to mess with him. He doesn’t mind it. It can be quite fun. 

As they make their way down the corridor, he notices that she’s wearing heels. Her new heels, he hopes. He does not need a repeat of the swollen feet incident. Although, he wouldn’t mind getting to catch her in his arms again. Maybe that’s what’s causing the haughtiness? It is a good look on her, this added confidence gained along with a small amount of height. But he knows his Princess; she hardly ever does anything without a reason. What’s she plotting?

“You’re on my night guard tonight, correct?” she calls, feigning disinterest. She’s quite good at making it look convincing. 

“I am.”

She hums, obviously pleased, before resuming her act. 

“Well. You are not to disturb me tonight,” her voice is haughty and her head held high. “I have a meeting of great importance, and I don’t wish to be interrupted.”

“As you wish, your Highness,” he responds, definitely not admiring the way her hips swish in front of him. “If I may, what company are you expecting tonight? Just so I can have security prepared.”

She hums thoughtfully. “If you must know,” she murmurs, casting him a secretive glance over her shoulder, “I’m expecting a certain young gentleman this evening.”

He raises his brows in mock surprise. “A suitor? Should I send for a chaperone, then?”

“That won’t be necessary,” she says, turning back around. “And he’s not a suitor. He’s my boyfriend.”

Link purses his lips, unable to hide his grin. “Your boyfriend,” he repeats. “I thought that kind of relationship was forbidden for Princesses.”

She stops dead in her tracks, whirling around to face him. When she speaks, her tone is all venom, but a playful smile tugs at her face. “And I thought speaking in such a way to your sovereign was forbidden for knights."

He smirks, quickly hiding it by bowing his head. “My apologies, Princess,” he says. “How can I make it up to you?”

She hums softly, reaching forward to brush invisible lint from his shoulder. “You won’t need to, Sir. I believe my boyfriend will be making it up to me tonight.”

The hair on the back of Link’s neck stands up. “And how will he do that?” 

“Oh, nothing much,” she sighs, now fiddling with the longer pieces of his hair. “He just owes me a favor, that’s all.”

She pulls away, dragging him for just a moment by the strands of his hair, before turning on her heel and strutting down the hall. He’s left alone in her wake; mouth open, heart racing, and mind reeling.

 

—

 

Link spends the rest of the day on the brink of an aneurysm. He skips afternoon training all together, opting to take a bath instead, and then, when he starts to sweat profusely from panic, another bath. He skips dinner as well, worried about getting something stuck in his teeth or his breath smelling bad. It’s a bad call, he immediately realizes as his stomach starts to churn even harder, struggling to run on empty. However there’s no time to rectify his mistake, as the sun has started to set and he must be on his way to his shift at the Princess’ door. 

You’re out of practice, his thoughts scream in his mind. It’s going to be awkward and uncomfortable and you’ll probably just end up licking her thigh anyway. Every step he takes feels heavy. Like walking through molasses. 

When he finally arrives at her door, he forces himself to take a deep breath. You’ve got this. She likes you. She’s going steady with you for a reason. You know where the clitoris is. He pauses. Wait. Does he? Focus!

He hears movement just beyond her door. No time to turn back now. She definitely knows he’s here. With a deep breath and a steady hand, he enters the room. 

Naturally, the first thing he notices is her.

She’s in a matching peach silk robe and nightgown, her hair down with soft waves from being in braids all day. She looks a little pink in the cheeks, and on a second look, he realizes her hair is damp. She must have just been in the bath. 

Despite the warmth of the late summer evening, she has a fire blazing in her hearth, and almost every single candle in the room is lit. It reminds him of Farore’s Day, that night when she told him how lovely everything looked in the firelight. The night they kissed for the first time. 

Lovely indeed.

“Well?” she prompts, a knowing smile on her face. “How do I look?” 

He stares her dead in the eye, his tone deathly serious. “Do you want the Knight or the boyfriend?”

“Hmmm…” she muses, that delightful little glint burning in her eyes. “Let’s hear the Knight first.”

He straightens his posture, making sure to keep his tone even as he carefully says, “You look very lovely, your Highness.”

She slinks across the room, slowly but surely closing the distance between them. There’s only a few steps left of space keeping him from her when she finally whispers, “And how about the boyfriend?”

He crosses that space between them in a matter of seconds, his hands gentle yet firm at her waist when he reaches her. “You,” he murmurs, burying his face in her neck so he can breathe her in, “Look fucking gorgeous.” 

A noise escapes her, something caught between a gasp and a laugh, one that he very much wants to hear again. So he leans in, kissing and nibbling at her neck as she runs her fingers through his hair, removing it from his tie. 

“Wait, wait,” he hears her say. Before he can immediately pull away, she holds him close by the back of his head, staring into his eyes. “Kiss me properly.” 

He’s more than happy to obey. 

She kisses him heavily, diving straight in with tongue and teeth and leaving no room for him to misinterpret her intentions. He gathers up the fabric of her robe at the small of her back, savoring in its smooth texture before tearing it from her body. She growls into his mouth as she yanks at his hair, smiling all the while. It’s ridiculous really, how quickly she can rile him up. 

“Where-” he mumbles, pulling away from her briefly, “Where should we- we can go to the study.” He’s having trouble articulating his thoughts, what with the way Zelda keeps running her hands all over him. 

“Well, we are in my bedchamber,” she drawls seductively. He shivers. “So I was thinking my bed.”

That makes him raise his eyebrows. The bed? Somehow, it feels a little too… intimate. “You sure?”

“Yes, I’m sure.” She blushes slightly. “I’ve… thought about it before.”

Now that piques his interest. “Well then. Don’t have to tell me twice.”

He scoops her up into his arms, smiling as she yelps then bursts into laughter. She wraps her legs around his waist, leaning down to smother his face in kisses. They arrive at the side of her bed in a few strides, and he gently lies her down atop the plush blanket. 

“Aw,” she sighs disappointedly. “I was rather hoping you would toss me down.”

“You want that?”

“A little. Don’t you think it would be fun?”

She’s back in his arms a moment later, squealing all the while as he throws her on to the bed. Emboldened by her laughter, he too decides to dive down beside her, causing the bed to rock and squeak with the force of the movement. 

“Don’t break it!” she teases him.

“I won’t. That comes later.” Her snort is muffled by his face as he swoops back in to kiss her. 

He climbs on top of her, half encouraged by his own willpower, half by the frantic pulling of her hands. They scramble together at the fabric of his tunic, pulling it up over his head and tossing it into the abyss somewhere. She laughs at the state of his hair, and he laughs with her, at least til he decides he would much rather be kissing her again than laughing. He sets his lips to her neck, kissing and biting gently. She hisses through her teeth. 

“Listen, I know I said- said I wanted…” Zelda gasps out the words like they might be her last. “You don’t have to. Return the favor. Unless you want-” 

“Yes,” he breathes, claiming her lips in a searing kiss. “I do want that.” 

When he pulls back, her eyes are blown black, cheeks flushed from his attention. “Really?” 

“Zelda, I’ve wanted to do this for months.”

She turns an even brighter shade of red. “How long?”

He thinks for a moment. He’s always found her beautiful, always wanted her in this way… but with her initial rejection and the weight of their duties, he had always tried to rid himself of distractions.

“A long time,” he answers. “But mostly since the desert.” 

She breathes heavily, a small smile creeping onto her face. “Me too,” she confesses.

They fall back into their rhythm almost immediately, him pressing down on top of her, her running her hands down his now-bare back. The neckline of her nightgown dips low enough to give him access to the top of her breast, so he decides to set his mouth to it, biting just enough to make her moan. Slowly, waiting long enough to gauge her reaction, he glides his hand up her torso to cup her clothed breast in his palm. She gasps. 

“Yes,” she sighs, arching up into him. “Touch me.”

He sits up on his haunches to palm roughly at her breasts, pressing them together and admiring the feel of them through the silk. Even covered like this, she’s still completely intoxicating. 

He’s about to lean back down to kiss her when she starts gathering the skirts in her hands. “Let me take this off.”

His breath catches. “Are you- you sure? You don’t have to-”

“Link,” she cuts him off, giggling nervously. “This wasn’t your idea.”

She’s not wrong. Doesn’t mean he’s never thought of this. Never dreamed of it. 

He moves back slightly, allowing her to sit up and pull the nightgown off in one go over her head. She tosses it on to the floor somewhere, her gaze nervous and unfocused. 

Link can’t look away.

She’s completely bare before him, skin bathed in orange candlelight like a vision of Hylia herself. Her breasts are punctuated with two perfect pink nipples, which are starting to harden in the open air of her chambers. Her stomach is soft and smooth, just like her hips and thighs, which he desperately wants to sink his fingers into. And- he realizes with a jolt, she’s wearing no undergarments, the barest hint of golden curls sticking out from between her closed legs. 

Awkwardly, she runs her hands down her thighs. “Everything alright?”

He snaps out of his stupor. Goddesses, he’s an idiot. She just got naked in front of him for the first time and here he is, drooling like a creep. 

“Sorry,” he reassures, slowly leaning in to run his hands over legs. “Sorry, you’re just… Gods, I-”

She giggles softly. “It’s nice?”

“More than nice. You’re beautiful, Zelda. You’re so…” he trails off again, distracted by her body.

She doesn’t seem to mind. When they kiss again, it’s soft and sweet. Her hands cradle his face like he’s something precious. Dimly, he’s aware of how ridiculous that is. She’s the precious one here. Not him. 

Gently, he tips them back until he’s hovering over her once more, hands steadying himself on the bed, unsure of where to touch her. She takes his wrist and guides his hand back to her breast. She giggles, biting her lip. “I don’t bite.”

No, she definitely doesn’t. Her flesh gives way beneath his touch, and suddenly he’s so swept up in her that he’s back to kneading both breasts in his palms. “So soft.” The words slip out, and he flushes at his accidental candor. She just sighs. 

He tips forward, tongue licking at her collarbone and journeying south, moving lower and lower, till eventually her breast is in his mouth and she’s humming beneath him. He could be content all day like this, he thinks, but it’s not long before she’s pushing at his head, urging him lower. 

He makes his way down her body, stopping to appreciate the base of her ribs, the taper of her waist, the flex of her abdominals. He’s unable to resist pressing a quick kiss to her belly button, a move that makes her laugh. Then, once he drags that kiss lower, her laugh melts into a moan. 

Even with his nerves and his fear and uncertainty, he can’t help but admire how gorgeous she is as he reaches the apex of her thighs. Her hands fly up to her chest, a nervous tic that he soothes by rubbing gently at her thigh. “I’ve got you,” he murmurs in the same voice he uses to calm horses. “I’ve got you. Just relax.”

She takes a deep, shaking breath. “I know. I trust you.”

Slowly, he props her legs up onto the bed. He kisses the top of her knee, looking at her, waiting for her reaction. She smiles. So he kisses her there again. Then lower. And lower. And lower.

He kisses her one last time, at the place where her thigh meets her hips, and looks up at her again. Her smile is gone, having melted into an expression far more anticipatory. With a confidence he didn’t know he possessed, he smirks up at her.

Then he kisses her cunt. 

“Oh,” she breathes, head falling back to the pillow. “Do that again.”

He does. Again and again and again, until his kisses have turned into broad strokes of his tongue, and she’s sighing as he licks at her. The taste is unlike anything he’s ever experienced before, which strikes him as odd. But maybe he shouldn’t be surprised. Zelda is unlike anyone else he’s ever met before, so of course she would be unlike anyone else in this. 

He can taste the bath she was in, as well as the sweet scent of her body wash. But there’s something else; beyond the bath and the scent and even the sweat on her skin, something that’s uniquely her. It’s delicious. She’s delicious. He whines into her, lapping up the wetness that has now completely soaked his face. 

She moans above him, sighing and gently running her fingers through his hair. Clearly he’s doing something right. But there will be times, either when she’s unusually quiet or gasps in a way that tells him she likes something, that make him want to redouble his efforts. Make him want to discover her. To learn her. To figure her out.

He wants to study her. 

And that gives him an idea.

“Can you-” he frowns, sheepishly placing a kiss on her thigh. 

“Yes?” she asks, voice little more than a wisp of air.

He breathes deeply, gathering his courage. “Can you… talk science-y again?”

There’s a moment of silence before she snorts. “Talk science-y?”

He shrugs, eyes drifting to the crimson of her duvet. “You know… I mean, you don’t have to if-” 

“Does my knight want to do some experimenting of his own?” Zelda purrs, fingers wrapping delicately around his chin. There’s a warm hum low in his belly, one that has him dumbfoundedly nodding up at her. 

“Well then,” she murmurs, her smile radiant in the candlelight, “I do believe the study is ready to begin.” 

Her voice has him melting like putty in her hands. Hands that she quickly uses to push his face back down her body. 

“Your technique so far has been quite good,” she says, voice working hard to stay even as he starts to taste her again. “But I believe there may be a more efficient method that you can employ.”

“Tell me,” he says between two hard strokes of his tongue. “Tell me what to do.”

She hums, a deep sultry ‘mmm’, as she pulls his head up slightly. “Right there. At the top. Now just-” her voice melts away into a gasp as his tongue meets her clit. He traces over it, gently at first, then rapidly increasing in intensity. She hisses through her teeth.

“A little slower,” she commands. He listens. “Did you know that the clitoris is estimated to have over- mmh- over ten thousand nerve endings? That’s nearly… Oh…” 

He has his lips wrapped around her clit now, sucking lightly and pulling away just when she starts to squirm. When he chances a quick glance up at her, he finds her head listed to the side on the pillow, her mouth open around a wordless cry. “Nearly what?” he murmurs. He can’t help himself. Hearing her talk is somehow an unbelievable turn on. 

“It’s nearly double the amount of nerve endings in the penis. Which makes it incredibly sen… Sensitive. So I- Oh, Hylia, mmm- I must say you’re handling it… very well.”

“Oh yeah?” he kisses her on her inner thigh, earning him an anticipatory tremor. He’s hard, nearly throbbing through his pants, but there’s no space in his head to think about that when he has the Princess of Hyrule spread out before him. She is his priority now. His hill to conquer. A new land to discover. 

“You might want to try a more… vigorous method, now.” Her voice is strained with want and breathlessness. “I think we may be ready for that.”

He hums, smiling, eyes flicking up to meet hers. “As her Highness commands.”

This time, when his mouth finds the seam of her body once more, there’s no hesitance. He laps at her openly, focusing his attention on her clit in a spiral motion, before ducking down to drink up the wetness that has started to spill from her. The sensation of tasting her can only be rivaled by the sounds of her pleasure; by the little gasps and whines she’s emitting above him. His head starts to feel light and fuzzy, glazed over by the intoxicatingness of it all. It’s addicting.

“I do- mmh- do believe you are close to a breakthrough, Sir Knight,” she breathes, voice authoritative and wispy at the same time. 

“I am?” he asks, pulling away from her only long enough to speak. “Is this good?”

“So good,” she purrs. “So good for me. Your methods are ver- ah!- very effective…”

He growls, leaning in to suck at her clit. “I’m good?” It’s like he’s drunk. Like he can’t help the words coming out of his mouth. “Am I being good?”

“Yes, yes Link,” she sighs, running a loving hand through his hair. “Such a good boy for me.”

The words hit him like lightning. He shoves his face back into her cunt, desperate to please, desperate to make her feel good. Above him, he hears her moan out something that sounds a lot like his name. 

“I want you,” he murmurs into the skin of her thigh when he pulls away to breathe. He doesn’t know exactly why he says it. Just that he wants to. Just that it’s the truth. “I want you so bad.”

“You have me,” she whispers back. He looks up from her thigh and is surprised to see emerald eyes peering back at him, pupils blown and sparkling. “You have me. Just you.”

The words blow him open. “Just me?” he whispers. Like a prayer.

“Yes.” She takes him by his hair, pulling so hard he whines. “Yes, Link. I’m yours. I’m all-” her voice turns to air on the final word, fading to nothing as he presses his tongue against her clit, sobbing and moaning into the dampness of her skin. She’s his. She’s all his. And he’s all hers. 

“I need you to come,” the words come out muffled, buried into the seam of her body. Somehow, she hears them anyway. “I need you to come, Zelda, please, let me be good, let me make you feel good-”

“Yes, yes, yes,” she’s keening, gasping out the words like she just can’t help herself. Like her regality has been ruined, her eloquence destroyed. The thought makes him dizzy. 

He spirals his tongue over her clit, using his hands to press her legs wider, and all the while she’s gasping out “Make me come, make me come, mm, yes, Link, good boy, yes!”, until her words fade to nothing and all that’s left is the feeling of Link pressed into her. 

When she comes, it’s silent. There’s no gasp, no scream, no great sigh of relief. But he can feel it. Her body shakes, spasming out through her limbs and humming in her core. He can taste it on his tongue, the tremor. Like a tiny earthquake ricocheting through her bones. And in that moment, he’s right there with her, sitting on the edge of that beautiful white dreamworld she’s sent him to so many times before now. 

Then she comes down. 

Her chest heaves, both with exhaustion and bliss, her skin shining with sweat. He reluctantly pulls himself away from her core, though he doesn’t deny himself the gift of leaving a small kiss on her inner thigh. Judging by her high, breathless giggle, she doesn’t mind. 

He crawls up the bed, positioning himself on his side right next to her. Her eyes are closed, so he takes a moment to wipe her slick off his face, and to adjust his pants. Thankfully, he doesn’t need the backups. Though it did get close for a moment there.

Once her breathing evens out and her senses return, he’s treated to the sight of her eyelids fluttering open. She looks up at him, sleepy and sated and so at peace with the world. 

“Wow,” she sighs.

“Wow,” he agrees.

“That was… you were…”

“You were,” he emphasizes, kissing the crown of her head. “That was amazing. Thank you.”

Zelda snorts, lightly slapping his bare chest. “You cannot seriously be thanking me after you just gave me the orgasm of a lifetime.”

He tries not to let his ego inflate over that. It still does. Just a little. “Well, you still trusted me,” he scratches at the nape of his neck, “to take care of you. To see you like this.”

“Of course,” she hums, closing her eyes. She stretches her body out, like a cat during an afternoon nap in the sun, burying her face into his chest. It’s cute. “I trust you more than anyone.”

He blinks, staring down at the marvel that is this woman in his arms. “I don’t know how you do that.”

“Do what?”

Say things that sound so simple yet make me feel so much. “Make me feel so stupid.”

She huffs a laugh against his skin. It tickles. “Stupid in a good way?”

He wraps his arm around her, relishing the sensation of her bare skin against him. “Stupid in a great way.”

She’s still naked, he realizes a little belatedly, and while he loves getting to see her body he also knows that she must be cold. He collects her nightgown and robe off of the floor, as well as his tunic, and with only a little bit of fumbling and laughter, manages to reclothe them both. 

He’s back on the bed a moment later, her cuddled up in his arms, when she turns to him. 

“Want me to return the favor?”

He huffs a laugh, pressing a kiss to her browbone. “You’re exhausted.”

“Yes. But I can manage.” She props herself up, beginning to work lazily at unclasping his belt buckle. 

He gently takes her hands off him. “I’m alright. Seriously.”

“Thank Hylia,” she groans, flopping back down on the bed. “I’m exhausted.”

“Knew it,” he snorts.

“I’ll make it up to you.”

“Don’t worry about it.”

They lie like that for a while; next to each other, not touching, staring at the canopy of her bed. He loves that about them. Even when they’re not touching, not talking, it still feels close. 

Then, he makes the fatal mistake of looking at the clock. His shift as her night guard ends in an hour. Which means his relief will be coming soon. Which means that if he’s not there when the relief comes, or even worse, is seen sneaking out of the Princess’ room once morning comes, they’re going to be in big trouble. He groans. 

“I should probably… get going.”

“Oh really?” she coos, turning her head to bat her eyelashes at him. “I thought we were just getting started.”

He snorts. “You just said you were exhausted.”

“Well, perhaps I had something else in mind.”

“Oh yeah? Like what?”

She smiles, eyes flicking down to his lips as she leans in close. Her lips are pressed against the shell of his ear, breath causing tingles to erupt down his sides, when she whispers, “The mitochondria is the powerhouse of the cell.”

He frowns. “What?”

She flops back down on the bed, shrugging with a smile. “Just a little biology fact I thought I would share.”

He quirks his brow, face nonplussed. “Was that… supposed to turn me on?”

“You said you liked when I talked science-y.”

He snorts, unable to hold back his laughter. “You are ridiculous.” 

“Oh really? Well, how about this?” She sits back up on her knees, positioning herself so her back is facing him. Over her shoulder, she casts him a seductive look as she arches her back and sticks her bottom out. “There are more stars in the sky than there are grains of sand on a beach.” Her voice is smooth and sultry, and surprisingly enticing considering what she’s actually saying. 

He hums, eyes fixed unabashedly on her backside. “That’s pretty cool.”

She rolls over onto her stomach, kicking her feet in the air as she bites her lip. Her eyes are half-lidded and devastatingly alluring. “Every year, the Thundera Plateau gets more rainfall than every other region of Hyrule combined.”

He shakes his head, a smile on his face. “This is stupid.” 

“Is it working?” 

“No.” 

“What a shame,” Zelda sighs as she plops down beside him, posture relaxed and eyes closed. Her face is flushed and perfect in the flickering glow of the candles. “I was starting to get excited all over again.”

“...Really?”

“No.”

He tsks at her. “What a shame.”

She smiles, opening one eye to peer up at him. “There’s always tomorrow, right?”

He laughs, though it quickly melts into a groan. Tomorrow. People. His relief, coming any minute now. 

“I really, really need to go.”

“No,” she whines, voice adorably petulant. “Stay.”

“I have to, Zelda, we’ll get caught.” He’s not doing a very good job of being convincing. Mostly because he doesn’t want to convince her. 

“I don’t care. Let them catch us. Then everyone will finally know that you’re taken and stop trying to flirt with you in front of me.”

“What?” he props himself up an elbow, staring down at her. “Who flirts with me?”

“You seriously don’t know?” Zelda peeks up at him with one eye, clearly amused. “‘Oh Sir Link, I didn’t see you there!’ ‘Sir Link, thank you for protecting us!’ ‘You’re so strong, Sir Link…’” she snorts. “My handmaidens. They’re absolutely mad about you.”

He racks his brain, trying to think of any and all interactions he’s had with them. He seriously never knew. “They are?”

“Why do you think they’re always dropping things in front of you?”

“I thought they were… clumsy.”

“They want you to help them pick it up,” she explains, tapping his arm as she talks. “So then your hands can brush and you’ll look at them and fall in love. Or something.”

He makes a face. “There’s no way that works.”

“Well, it worked when I tripped and you caught me.” His eyes widen. When he looks up at her, her cheeks are flushed, belatedly realizing her own implication. You caught me, and fell in love. 

“I- I mean, you liked me. I got you to like me. When I fell.” It’s a weak save at best, and both of them know it. She clears her throat.

“Right,” he replies, voice hoarse. “I mean I- I liked you. Before that.”

It’s a dumb thing to say, even though it’s true. It’s too full of the implications of her last statement. I loved you before that. 

“We should probably sleep,” Zelda says, pulling down the covers and climbing underneath. Thankfully, most of the awkwardness of the previous moment seems to have faded away. 

Link sighs, watching her snuggle into the comfort and softness of her sheets and pillow. “Are you coming in or not?” she giggles. He relents. It does look incredibly warm in there. 

He burrows down next to her, their faces pressed together and bodies close enough to feel each other’s warmth. She hums contentedly, closing her eyes and pressing her face into her pillow with a smile. Despite the growing heaviness of his eyelids, he forces himself to watch her.

She’s beautiful. He realizes that his hand has come up to gently trace at her cheek. She briefly opens her eyes, smiling at him, before letting them flutter closed again. What an incredible thing, he thinks to himself, that I get to be with her like this. 

That thought is back again. The one that nags and nags until it’s all he can think about. Is he falling for her? Or, has he already fallen?

He thinks back to what he said; ‘I liked you before that’. It’s true, but was the implication beneath the statement also true? I loved you before that. Did he? Does he now? He’s heard people say that when you know you know, but that’s the problem. He doesn’t know if he knows. His mind hurts from the confusion of it all. 

Zelda’s voice, soft and sleepy, recalls him from his troubles. 

“Link?”

“Hm?”

“Have you ever…” her words trail off.

He sweeps a lock of hair back behind her ear. “Yes?” 

She opens her eyes to stare at him for a moment, clearly debating something in her mind. Then it disappears, and an easy smile returns to her face. “Nothing,” she sighs. “It’s not important.” 

Link frowns. “You know you can talk to me, right?”

“I know,” she says, laughing a little. “And I will. Just… not tonight.”

He nods, returning his hand back to where it was on her cheek. She sighs contentedly, closing her eyes and sinking into his touch. Her breathing begins to even out, and for a moment he thinks she might have fallen asleep, until her hand flies up and holds his wrist. 

“You’re more,” she says, her gentle voice breaking the silence.

He looks at her. “Hm?”

She opens her eyes, gaze warm and soft and open on him. 

“You’re more than some dumb, teenage rebellion. You know that, right?”

He can’t stop the idiotic grin from growing over his face. “I know. You know too, right?”

She nods, biting her lip. “I know.” 

He watches, dopey-eyed and dreamy, as her eyelids slowly drift closed. At that moment, it suddenly doesn't seem to matter anymore if he’s in love, or falling in love, or just confused. He’s here, right now, with her, and that’s enough. It’s more than enough.

Even though it's probably a bad call, he decides that right now he would rather die than go back to his own bed. The relief will probably assume he just left early, and in the morning he can wake up early and sneak out through her window or something. Blindly, he reaches over to turn out her light, before settling in to sleep. 

“Link.”

“Hm.”

“Fossilized poo is called coprolite.”

He sighs. “Go to sleep.”

She giggles softly, then complies.

 

—

 

It’s complete and utter torture to seperate himself from her the next morning, but he does eventually manage to do it. And, despite the daunting height, it’s fairly easy to climb down the wall from her window. 

Thankfully he’s back at her door only three hours later; his uniform perfectly in place like last night never happened at all. When she invites him in for breakfast at eight thirty, she too is fully clothed in her field outfit, hair combed and braids neat. 

“Hello,” she calls, not looking at him. Even from the doorway, he can see the haughty, coy smirk on her face.

He plops down in the chair across from her, plucking a biscuit off of her plate and stuffing it into his mouth. She glares at him. “Morning.”

He manages to stuff his face with two more biscuits, and is halfway through pouring himself a cup of tea. before she’s even done buttering her toast. She stares at him, nonplussed. 

“Hungry?”

He takes a long sip of his tea, keeping his gaze on her the whole time. When she finally flicks her eyes up to meet his, he swallows methodically. “Like you wouldn’t believe.” He stares longingly at her lips.

Slowly, she starts to smile at him. Then she snorts. “No.”

“No, what?”

“No, you can’t eat me out right now.”

He huffs, throwing up his arms in outrage. “And why not?”

She laughs, shaking her head as she butters her toast. “Gods, you’re insatiable.”

“And you’re delicious.”

“Drink your tea.”

He does. A moment later, one of Zelda’s handmaidens comes rushing in, a letter in hand. 

“Letter for Sir Link? It says it’s from- oops!” She cries out as the letter goes tumbling from her hand, just inches away from where he sits. “Oh, how careless of me, my deepest apologies, Sir.”

He bends over to pick up the letter, doing his best to ignore the handmaiden’s batting eyelashes and Zelda’s smirk of ‘I told you so’. He mumbles his thanks to the handmaiden, scratching the nape of his neck as she curtsies and exits the room. 

The door clicks shut, and immediately Zelda bursts into barely subdued laughter. “Oh, Sir Link…”

“Stop it,” he warns rather pathetically. “I seriously didn’t know!”

“Just clumsiness, huh?”

He sighs, staring down at the letter. “Well, now it seems obvious…”

Zelda smiles and sips her tea. “What’s that about?” She asks, gesturing to the letter.

“It’s from my father.” Link tears the letter open, more curious than anything. He rarely hears from his father, what with him being a senior member of the Royal Guard and being stationed at military camps throughout the Kingdom. Last Link heard, he had been in Faron for the past six months training new recruits. 

The letter is short and to the point, a characteristic that’s been present for as long as Link can remember. “He says he’s being reassigned to Akkala Citadel til winter.” This makes him frown. Not being able to see his father for another few months isn’t such a big deal for him, but what about his mother? She’s all alone back at the family homestead in Hateno, with both her husband and son off serving their Kingdom. Link himself hasn’t seen her in nearly six months. He returns to reading. 

“He’s asking me if I can manage to go home for the harvest festival, to keep my mother company.” 

Zelda nods, thinking. “That’s in a few weeks, right?”

He nods. “Right before your birthday.”

She smiles, making a small ‘aw’ sound. “You remember my birthday?”

“Of course I do,” he says sweetly. They look at each other for just a little bit longer, smiling lovingly, before he smirks and shrugs. “Not because you’re my girlfriend or anything. You’re the Princess. Everyone knows your birthday.”

She snorts, kicking at his legs under the table. “You’re so unromantic.” At that comment, he winks at her, a gesture that has her giggling and melting all over again. Then he turns back to the letter.

There’s not much more to read, except for his father’s sign off, a simple ‘Hope you’re well, son’. As close to an ‘I love you’ or an ‘I’m proud of you’ as he can get. Somehow, it still makes him feel warm inside. 

“I’m sure you’ll be able to get the time off to go home for a week or two,” Zelda says as he tucks the letter away into his pocket. 

“The festival’s only three days. I won’t need to be gone that long.”

“What about your mother? Won’t she want you to stay longer?” She will, he knows. And while he would love to spend more time at home with her, there’s something that makes him pause. 

“Honestly, I… I don’t want to leave you for that long.” He looks away, embarrassed. Maybe he shouldn’t have said it. It is rather pathetic. But judging by the way she blushes and smiles to herself, he thinks it was worth it. 

Then, he gets an idea. 

“Or,” and here he leans in, reaching across the table to take her hand, “you could come with me. I can show you where I grew up, you can meet my mother. Then maybe we could go dancing like the other couples do. Remember when we talked about that?”

“I do,” she sighs, squeezing his hand. “But I would hate to impose on your time with your family. Besides, father probably wouldn’t allow it. With my birthday coming up, I’m supposed to be preparing for my pilgrimage to Mount Lanayru.”

“First off,” he says, plucking the rest of her uneaten toast off her plate, “you wouldn’t be imposing. Hateno is known for its hospitality. And two, you could tell your father that it’s part of… I don’t know, a cultural pilgrimage? Visiting the different towns of Hyrule. Connecting with your subjects. That sort of thing.” 

She hums, considering. “That might work. I assume Hateno has a shrine I can pray at?”

“Of course.”

“Then that might be enough to convince father. But then…” she frowns. “Then we’ll be there as Princess and Knight. Not as… us.” 

It’s a disappointing thought. In his wildest fantasies, he imagined walking with her hand in his, slowly dancing together at the festival, and introducing her to his mother as his girlfriend, not just the Princess. But having her there at all is better than nothing. He’ll take what he can get, even if it means they have to pretend. 

“We can still have fun. Sneak off together. You know?” He tries to sound convincing, just as much for himself as for her. 

She nods slowly in agreement. “You’re right. I’ll talk to my father about it today. Besides, I’ve always wanted to see where you grew up.”

She sounds more hopeful by the end of their conversation. Yet despite this, there’s a noticeable shadow over her face as she finishes her meal. Link recognizes it for what it is; dread over having to ask her father for something. He feels it beginning to come over him as well, but forces himself to maintain a straight face. If anything, it’s just to try and make her feel more calm. 

Once they’re done eating he escorts her to a morning prayer session, after which they go their separate ways. Her, to her father’s chambers, him, to the barracks.

As he makes his way back through the castle hallways, he can’t help but think of her. Her shoulders stiff, her eyes downcast, slightly trembling as she makes her way to her fathers’ door. It makes him anxious just thinking about it. He almost wishes he never asked her to come. Maybe it would have been better to just spare her from this task. 

He gets a few good hours of training in before heading up to her study for their lunch. She’s not there yet, much to his chagrin, so he sits and waits on the bench, bouncing his leg restlessly. 

Fifteen minutes pass before she barges into the room.

“I can’t believe him,” she’s muttering, voice spilling out low and frantic and angry. “I can’t believe him, I can’t believe him.” She barely even looks at Link as she paces back and forth before him. 

“Zel,” he calmly calls her name. She doesn’t respond. “Zel.” Still nothing; just pacing and heavy breathing and the constant stream of ‘I can’t believe him, I can’t believe him’ over and over. “Zelda, what’s going on?”

That finally stops her. She whirls on her heels, turning to face him with nothing but green fury and sadness in her eyes. 

“He’s given me an ultimatum. An ultimatum!” She throws up her hands as she spits the word.

“What’s the ultimatum?” he asks, being careful to keep his voice neutral. He doesn’t want to upset her any more than she already is. 

She sighs, pinching the bridge of her nose. “I’m to unlock my powers by Yuletide, and I must begin my pilgrimage to the three sacred springs at once. That means no festival. And what’s even more, if I’m unable to wield my sacred, mysterious and all-powerful sealing magic by his trivial, mortal and meaningless deadline, I will be barred from all research. No more guardians. No more field studies. No more Sheikah technology. He even… he even said he’d take all my books.” She gestures weakly to the shelves surrounding them; to the piles and piles of books she’s been steadfastly collecting for years. Link knows how much they mean to her. The King knows what they mean to her. And he still would take it all away.

Zelda presses the heels of her hands into her eyes. “I don’t know what to do.”

He holds out his arms to her, hoping his voice comes out soft and attentive and everything she needs him to be right now as he says, “Come here.” 

Immediately, she obeys. She collapses onto the bench beside him, burying herself into his touch. He rubs soothing circles into her back, rocking them back and forth gently as she breathes. The whole time, she never sheds a tear. Somehow, it breaks his heart more. It feels like she’s just too tired to. Like she knows her tears would serve no purpose.

“I shouldn’t have had you ask him by yourself,” he murmurs into her ear. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s not your fault.”

“Still. I should’ve been there for you.”

She wraps her arms together around him, leaning deep into his chest as she breathes him in. “You’re here now.”

He smiles, pressing a kiss to her hair. 

“Hey,” he takes her by her shoulders, moving back just far enough so he can look her in the eyes. “I have some ideas. Want to hear them?”

Her lips quirk up at the corner. “Go ahead.”

“Alright. But first,” he fully pulls away, sitting up straight as he asks her, “Knight or boyfriend?”

She thinks for a moment, then with a frown finally decides on, “Knight.”

“We go to the Spring of Power,” he details, keeping as much of that old stoicism and steadfastness in his voice as he can muster, “for three days. You’ll pray in the Spring for several hours each day, and I’ll guard you. You’ll sleep in your tent, and I’ll sleep outside by the fire. Then, when it’s all over, we go back to the Castle and you tell his Majesty what progress you’ve made with unlocking your sealing powers. How does that sound?” 

“Reasonable.” Her face is visibly downcast as she says it. 

He waits another moment before saying, “You haven’t asked the boyfriend what he thinks.”

Zelda’s eyes flit up to his, and he watches as that glint he loves so much appears once more. “Very well… How about the boyfriend, then?”

A mischievous grin pulls at his lips as he takes her hands in his. “We say we’re going to the Spring of Power for three days. When in reality, we go to Hateno for the harvest festival. You’ll wear plain clothes so no one will recognize you, and I’ll tell anyone who asks that you’re my girlfriend from Castle Town. We drink cider, and dance, and probably snog a little bit when we’re not drinking and dancing, and when it’s all over we go home and pretend you had a very enlightening time at the Spring.” He leans in close, quickly pecking her on the cheek before he asks, “How does that sound?”

She giggles. “A bit more risky.”

“Sneaking out, though,” he counters. “Number four. Remember?”

“Yes,” she smiles. “I remember.”

“So. Two options. What do you think?” 

She rolls her eyes. “I think I’ve ruined you. If I had told you six months ago what you just said to me, you’d probably have had an aneurysm.”

“If you had told me six months ago that I’d be going steady with the Crown Princess of Hyrule I definitely would have had an aneurysm. This is nothing compared to that.” 

She laughs, loud and long. Goddess, how he loves her laugh. The way her nose crinkles, the little snorts she lets out, everything. 

“Well then,” she starts once she’s able to collect herself, “Who would you like to hear first? The Princess or the girlfriend?”

“Let’s go with the Princess.”

She nods as she mirrors his previous rigid and straight posture. Suddenly, she looks like that same girl he met so long ago, that seemingly cold-hearted Princess who both terrified and bewitched him from the moment he laid eyes on her. 

“You are right, Sir Link. We ought to go to the Spring of Power, just as my Father says. I know I can trust you to both protect me and hold me accountable. I’ll pray, just as I always do, and it will probably come to nothing, just as it always does, and we will return home safe and sound like the responsible little saviors we are.” 

He nods solemnly. “And what does the girlfrie-”

She’s kissing him before he finishes sounding out the word, her lips hot and her touch like a brand. It’s that kind of kiss that makes him feel seventeen and stupid; the kind of kiss that tells him exactly what she’s going to say next. 

“Fuck that,” she breathes against his lips. “We’re going to the festival.”

 

—

 

A few weeks later, the Princess and her Knight are seen out of the gates of Castle Town with about as much pomp as the King can muster. It’s meant to be a celebration, a glorious start to the Princess’ sacred pilgrimage to the Spring of Power. In reality, it feels like a warning. You must succeed, the cheering crowds and trumpets say. Do not fail us. 

It takes a few hours of travel on the road before Zelda’s shoulders fully loosen. 

At first, they follow the path that’s been planned out for them; follow the road east, cross at the Orsedd bridge, pass by the Lanayru Wetlands. But once they reach Goponga Village they veer off road, tying up their horses briefly to change into commoner’s traveling clothes. He peeks over at one point to watch as Zelda unlaces her dress, at which she laughs and scolds him, but lets him keep watching. 

They get… distracted, for a bit. 

When they finally get back on the road, clothes obscuring their identities but not their blushing faces, they head south past the village. From there they go off-road, riding through the wilderness surrounding Kakariko and the Dueling Peaks before eventually passing Fort Hateno. Link shrinks a bit under the watchful eyes of the Knights stationed there, fearing they’ll be recognized. However, it seems that their disguises are effective, as the guard merely waves them through. They didn’t even get stopped for a random inspection.

As they slowly approach Hateno, Link goes over some things with Zelda.

“Remember; you’re my girlfriend from Castle Town, and we met because you work as the Princess’ handmaiden.”

“Yes,” Zelda chuckles, navigating her horse so she can ride right beside him. “And I’m terribly clumsy and got you to date me by batting my eyelashes at you.”

He rolls his eyes. “Is that the story we’re going with?”

“I think it’s pretty good. I mean, is it really that far from the truth?”

“I’m not going steady with you because you batted your eyelashes at me, Zelda.”

She turns to face him in her saddle, and proceeds to blink quickly and heavily at him. “How about now? Does this change your mind?”

He shakes his head, laughing. “You are ridiculous.”

“Oh!” she chimes, getting his attention. “I thought of what my name will be.”

“Yeah? What’s that?”

“Hilda. It was my aunt’s name. I think it suits the persona, yes?” she gestures to herself, and by extension, her ‘costume’ of a normal girl. She has sturdy riding boots on, ones with a slight heel, much to her delight when he first presented them to her. Her dress is simple, colored dark sage green, with a sturdy corset over top and a plain, yet pretty, apron. She has her hair tied back in a single braid, small fly-aways framing her makeup-less face. The early afternoon sunlight shines through the trees, catching in her hair like fallen drops of heaven. 

She looks beautiful every day, but today, he thinks, she might just be the most beautiful he’s ever seen her. 

He blinks away the hearts in his eyes, trying to remember her question. “It doesn’t have to be a persona,” he finally replies. “You can be yourself. Just not… yourself yourself.”

She snorts. “I know. So, does Hilda work for you?”

“Hilda’s great. Not as great as Zelda, though.”

She laughs and rolls her eyes, but even in the corner of his eye, he can see her blush. 

“Oh,” he says, turning back to her. “Make sure you remember to-”

“I’ll tone down the royal accent. I remember.”

They arrive at the entrance to the village a half hour later. Their welcome is only marked by a nod from the guard at the archway and the sound of windmills turning. It’s delightfully blissful in its simplicity, nothing at all like the send off they had in Castle Town this morning. 

As they make their way through the village, wave after wave of nostalgia washes over Link. There’s the field where he fell and broke his arm. There’s the house of his childhood best friend. There’s the town square where, nearly two years ago at this very festival, he had his first kiss. He glances over at Zelda furtively, smiling to himself. This time, he’ll get to kiss someone else. Someone so much better than he ever could have imagined. 

“Oh, Link,” Zelda gushes, eyes wide as she looks around her. “This is so…”

“So small? So rural? So full of the smell of horse dung?” 

She tsks at him. “No, you idiot. It’s so charming! I can’t believe I’ve never been here before.”

“Don’t worry, there’s lots more to see. But first,” they make their way up a small hill, and the bridge leading to his family’s home comes into view. “Let’s get settled in.” 

Once they’ve crossed the bridge and dismounted from their horses, Zelda stares in wonder at the small, ivy covered home. 

“Oh, Link…” she sighs, voice far more wistful this time. “It’s lovely.”

He frowns, bemused, staring at the house before him. It looks the same as it’s always looked; a little run down, a little old, but undoubtedly full of life and all of his earliest memories. Despite that, it’s still just a house. Nothing to fawn over. And yet she looks at it like it's a castle. 

And she literally lives in a castle. 

“You really think so?”

“Of course.” She turns to him. “I’ve always dreamed… Well, I’ve always imagined myself living in a house like this. Just a little, quiet place where I can do research, read my books, maybe keep a garden. That sort of thing.”

Link is briefly overtaken by visions of the life Zelda describes. She's perched in an armchair in front of a humble fireplace, a book cradled in her lap. She’s in a garden with a wide brimmed sunhat on, humming to herself as she pulls at weeds. She’s in a simple white gown, a bouquet of flowers in her hand, laughing as he scoops her up and carries her over the threshold of their home.

“That- that sounds nice,” he stammers out, suddenly worried she can read his mind.

“Link! Link!” a woman’s voice calls out. He looks up just in time to see his mother, barefoot, barreling out of the front door and pulling him into a tight embrace. 

“Oh, my boy. My sweet boy,” she coos, quickly taking his face in her hands to press a kiss to his cheek. Just as quickly, her sweet smile melts into frustration as she smacks him upside the head. “Never writing to your mother, never coming home! You ought to be ashamed of yourself!” Her expression crumples, and it’s all back to sweetness as she rubs soothing touches into the spot on his head she just smacked. “Oh, my precious boy…”

He winces, both from her tight squeeze and the pain radiating from his head. “Hi, Ma,” he grunts out. Zelda has her lips pursed, desperately trying not to laugh. 

His mother releases him and turns, noticing Zelda for the first time. “Why, who is this?” 

Link pulls away from his mothers arms, moving over to stand beside his Princess. “I’m sorry Ma, I would’ve written a letter but it wouldn’t have arrived in time.” 

The older woman’s eyes flit between the two of them, understanding dawning on her face. “Link, don’t tell me…”

Summoning up a confidence he strongly feels that he’s lacking, he wraps his arm around Zelda’s shoulders, immediately relaxing from the contact with her. “Ma, I’d like you to meet Hilda. My girlfriend."

Zelda smiles at him sideways, before offering her hand out to his mother. “It’s an honor to meet you, madam.” She’s done a pretty good job of hiding her Royal accent, though the faintest trace of a posh lilt is still audible. However, that could easily be explained away as a side effect of her time working in the castle. 

“As I live and breathe,” his mother sighs, rushing forward to grasp Zelda’s hand with both of hers. “I never thought I’d live to see the day. Link’s actually brought a girl home!” She pulls the Princess forward with a forceful tug, immediately taking her face into her hands just like she’d just done with him prior. “My, and you’re beautiful! What’s a girl like you doing with my oaf of a son?”

“Ma,” Link scolds, though Zelda just laughs. 

“I’m the one who’s lucky, madam.” She turns back to look at him, cheeks tinted pink and smiling softly. “You’ve raised a wonderful son.”

He feels his heart kick into double time in his chest. Shyly, he scratches at the nape of his neck, feeling his face flush to match hers. 

“I know I have,” his mother says quietly, staring at him with slightly misty eyes. She quickly shakes her head, wiping at her face discreetly. “But don’t let it go to his head! He might be a hero, but he’s not the greatest thing since sliced bread. Don’t you let him forget that, dear.”

Zelda chuckles, shaking her head. “I won’t.”

“You kids must be hungry! I have some soup on the stove inside; come in, come in! Quickly dear, before Link eats it all.” She takes Zelda’s arm in hers, pulling her through the front door and swiftly leaving Link behind. 

He hangs his head with a laugh. Gods, he missed his mother. 

When he enters the house Zelda is already seated at the head of the table, his mother ladling out three heaping bowls of soup. “So, Hilda,” she asks, carefully setting the bowls down at the table. “How did you meet my Link?”

“Well, I’ve actually been working at the castle for some time now. As one of the Princess’ handmaidens.” She eyes him as he sits down beside her. Her voice is a little stilted, posture a bit too rigid. Clearly she’s not used to lying. 

“Oh really? So you must have known each other for a while now. Tell me; when did the two of you start going steady?” 

“About two months ago,” Zelda explains with a smile. He remembers. He had surprised her on their one month anniversary with a fruitcake he made from scratch. She told him it was the most delicious thing she’d ever tasted. Minutes later, when the cake was gone and their tongues were tangled up together, he told her that she was the most delicious thing he’d ever tasted.

“Still quite new then, yes?” His mother passes out bread rolls to both of them before taking her seat across from Link, starting to dig into her own bowl. 

“I suppose so,” Zelda answers, daintily ripping up pieces of bread to dip into her soup. It’s nothing like how his mother confidently rips at her bread, even further from how Link practically inhales it. The older woman frowns slightly, watching the Princess eat with a discerning eye. 

“However, Link and I have been… Um, spending time together for a few months now.” Zelda awkwardly nibbles at another piece of her bread.

“Ah, I see. Spending time.” his mother waggles her eyebrows at them. Link feels a part of his soul wither and die.

“Ma.”

“I know what ‘spending time’ means, Link. You don’t get to be this old and not fully understand what two people mean when they say they’re ‘spending time’ together.”

Zelda laughs, a high, nervous sound. “Well, then I guess let’s say we’ve been… friends for a while now.”

Link takes another bite of soup. Friends who have spent a lot of ‘time together’. He smirks into his bowl. 

“Whatever you say… Hilda.” She carefully enunciates the first vowel of the name, really digging into the ‘Hil’ sound. It makes Link look up from his bowl, catching Zelda’s eyes and exchanging a wary look. His mother doesn’t seem to notice, casually taking another bite of her bread. The younger pair return to their meals cautiously. 

“How long have you been working in the castle for, Hilda?”

Zelda swallows her mouthful of soup. “Almost a year,” she replies, eyes flickering down to the table. Link can tell she’s starting to lose confidence in the lie. 

“You must be there quite a lot,” his mother continues, not looking up from where she’s stirring her bowl. “You have a hint of a Royal accent, you know.”

“Do I?” Zelda laughs, looking at him, panic in her eyes. He just stares back at her, mouth hanging open with his spoon held before him. No help whatsoever. Zelda steels herself and turns back to his mother. “I suppose the Princess must have… rubbed off on me, during my time there.”

The older woman hums, dipping a piece of bread into her bowl and popping it into her mouth. “Oh!” she exclaims, standing up to grab the pot of soup off the stove, chewing all the while. “You really should eat some more, dear. Look at you, scrawny thing! Here, let’s get you some more. I told you Link would eat all of it.”

Link looks down at his bowl. He’s not even half-way done yet. Zelda’s bowl is even fuller. His mother fills it up anyway.

“There you are,” she says, plopping back in her chair. “Well don’t be shy dear, eat!” Zelda obeys, hurriedly picking up her spoon and blowing on it. Link’s mother takes another bite of bread. Casually, while she chews, she asks, “I trust the soup is to your liking, your Highness?”

“Oh, it’s absolutely delicious.” Zelda takes another spoonful, then freezes. Link freezes. They all freeze. 

His mother stares at them, a smirk playing on her lips even as she chews.

Zelda swallows her spoonful, eyes boring into the table. “How-” she stammers, coughing around the words. “How did you… I mean, I’m not-”

“My husband works in the Royal Guard. I know what the Royal Family looks like.” She jerks her chin at Zelda’s bowl. “Besides. You eat more prim and proper than anyone I’ve ever met before. Though I guess I’m not the best judge of table manners. I’m only used to watching this one,” she points at Link with her spoon, shaking her head. “Hungriest boy I’ve ever met. You should’ve seen it, Princess; when he was a baby, my nipples would get so sore after feeding-”

“Ma!”

“What? It’s the truth!” 

“You won’t tell anyone, will you?” Zelda interrupts, voice rushed and worried. Thankfully, she seems to have not heard the nipple comment, much to Link’s relief. For a moment he was briefly considering throwing himself off the nearest cliff after hearing that. 

“My father- the King, I mean, he doesn’t know I’m here. He doesn’t know about any of this, actually. And if he did, I don’t know what would happen, so please madam-”

“Yes, yes,” his mother waves her hand dismissively. “It’s all very hush hush. I understand.”

Link frowns. “You… You do?”

The older woman softens, smiling at the pair. “Of course I do. I was young once, too. I did my fair share of sneaking around, back when Link’s father and I were going steady.” She sighs, eyes wistful as she leans back in her chair. “Those were the days. Now, granted, my father was a farmer, not a King,” here she glances pointedly at Zelda, “so my situation was a bit different.”

“So you…” the Princess gulps. “You won’t tell anyone?”

His mother snorts. “Who would I tell? The King? No, no. Your secrets are safe with me, dear. Besides, I don’t want this one to end up locked in some dungeon.” She nods her head at her son, rolling her eyes. “I have a feeling if his Majesty caught on to this the punishment wouldn’t be a simple slap on the wrist.”

Link and Zelda exchange a glance, both clearly worried. “I guess you’re right,” Zelda answers. 

“I suppose I understand it,” his mother continues, the only one at the table still eating her soup. “I wouldn’t want my daughter to be sneaking around with some roughian.” Zelda snorts, and his mother laughs with her. Even though it’s at his expense, Link smiles. It’s nice to see them getting along, and even nicer to feel the tension in the room lighten. 

“Which reminds me,” the older woman continues, turning to him. “You are being safe, right? Because Link, I swear to the goddesses, if you manage to knock up the Princess-”

“Hylia, ma-!”

“That won’t happen,” Zelda exclaims, face nearly as red as his. “I mean, it hasn’t- we haven’t- oh Gods…”

His mother throws her hands up in the air, a gesture of ‘it’s none of my business’. “I don’t need to know anything. But if you need an elixir, dear, I can get one for-”

Link sets his spoon on the table with a forceful thunk. “Ma.”

“I don’t believe in abstinence only education, you know that Link! I’m not stupid. I know what kids your age get up to. Denying it solves nothing.”

“I promise, we’re alright madam.” Zelda’s voice is firm and confident as she speaks. She’s a lot better at banishing her embarrassment than he is, Link notes. 

His mother shrugs. “Whatever you say. Oh, you two are going to have so much fun at the festival! It’s always the best when you’re young. I remember Link’s father- My, it must have been almost twenty five years ago now- asking me to dance. He was so nervous! I think he stepped on my foot about four times.” She laughs to herself, eyes sparkling with memories. “I remember thinking, ‘Hylia, this man is the worst dancer I’ve ever met, and I think I’ve got to marry him’.”

Movement flashes in the corner of Link’s eye, and he knows that if he were to look over, he would find Zelda’s eyes upon him. For some odd reason the thought fills him with fear (though over what, he’s not sure), so he doesn’t turn his head. His mind is suddenly full of white dresses and bouquets and carrying her over thresholds all over again. 

“I’ll be off with the ladies for most of the night, Link, so I’ll leave you two alone to have your fun. Not too much fun,” she warns with a pointed finger and raised eyebrow. “I’ve been a mother for almost eighteen years now. I have eyes in the back of my head.”

Zelda laughs. “I’ll remember that.”

“I’m sure you will, Hilda,” the older woman winks. 

“Oh! Speaking of that… Um…” Zelda blushes, smiling nervously. “You don’t think… Well. Do you think anyone else will recognize me, madam?”

His mother laughs as she begins to clear the table. “Even if they do, dear, I doubt they’ll say anything. Besides, who would believe that Link managed to nab the Princess of Hyrule?”

 

—

 

“I love your mother.”

Link snorts, leading the Princess back over the bridge into the main part of town. They were promptly sent on their way after the woman had cleaned up the table, though not without plenty of scolding for ‘not eating enough’ and another incredibly embarrassing reminder to not have ‘too much fun’. Part of him believes his face will be stained red for the rest of his life. 

“Even after all the… everything?”

Zelda whacks him on the arm, but quickly interlaces her fingers with his afterwards. “Of course. Besides, aren’t mothers supposed to embarrass their children?”

“I guess.”

She hums, staring at the ground. Even though she’s smiling, to him, it looks sad. “You’re very fortunate.” 

He purses his lips, suddenly feeling very stupid. She doesn’t have a mother. Urbosa is a bit like one, he supposes, but Zelda hardly ever gets to see the Gerudo chieftain. She’s right, he realizes, thinking of his mother with a smile. He is very fortunate. And he really should visit home more often.

He squeezes her hand, once, twice, and leads her into the town’s main square. 

The entire village is buzzing with activity, more people present than Link has ever seen before. Hateno has a small population, probably only a little more than a hundred, but the harvest festival never fails to attract a few hundred more. A man is up on a ladder hammering a banner into place. Women mill around tables, spreading out plates laden with food and drink. Children run through the streets, laughing wildly, kites flying in their wake. Zelda takes it all in with wide, curious eyes.

The band, a simple group consisting of a fiddler, a drummer, a woodwind player and a vocalist, is starting to tune their instruments. They’re on a simple raised platform by the general store, the open ground in front of them serving as the festival’s dance floor. Nothing at all like the full orchestra and waxed floors of the castle ballroom. 

“Will the music be starting soon?” Zelda asks him excitedly. “I’ve been looking forward to doing some world-famous Hateno dancing.”

“I don’t know about world-famous,” Link laughs, leading her further through the village. “But it should start up once the sun goes down and they light the lanterns.”

He shows her all around the village in the time he has. He points out the various shops, takes her up the hill to see the windmills, and shows her the darkened shrine just off the main road. They spend a fair amount of time there; her poking and prodding around the shrine, him admiring her as she does so. She’s very cute when she’s fascinated by something. 

Twilight has arrived in Hateno by the time they return to the village square. Lanterns strung up between rooftops and placed on buffet tables cast everything in a soft orange glow, and while it is a warm early autumn night, the extra heat doesn’t hurt. 

Laughter echoes through the air as the villagers and tourists mill about, plates full of food and hands clasped around mugs of cider. A little ways off, near the well, Link spies his mother gossipping with her friends. He recognizes the older women immediately as two prominent figures of his childhood. The plumper one made him call her ‘auntie’ growing up. The taller one has a daughter near his age, and has been tirelessly trying to set the two of them up since Link pulled the sword at thirteen. Quickly, he steers Zelda away before the trio can notice them; especially the tall woman. He doesn’t think she would respond very well if she knew he was taken now. 

Despite not being very hungry (they only ate a few hours ago, after all), both Link and Zelda load their plates to the brim. Pumpkin stew, mushroom risotto, rice balls, sauteed autumn vegetables and fish pies are only a fraction of what’s on display; and that’s not including dessert. Zelda is halfway through munching on a cinnamon donut when she notices a two tiered autumn fruitcake on display, and she nearly trips over a patch of grass as she rushes to cut herself a slice. 

After their absolutely exorbitant feast, two mugs of warm spiked cider somehow end up in their hands. Zelda nurses hers greedily, humming contentedly as she practically downs its contents. 

“Hey, hey,” Link says, laughing, reaching out to take the mug from her. She dodges his attempt. “Are we going for a repeat of number one?”

“Maybe I am.” She raises her eyebrows at him, adorably haughty. “And what are you going to do about it, hero?”

“Make you drink water. And hopefully keep you from doing anything stupid.”

Her superior, royal expression melts into a snort. “Come now. The last ‘stupid’ thing I did while drunk was kiss you.”

He laughs, taking another sip of his drink. “I guess you’re right."

“So really, we owe our entire relationship to my foolish, drunken decisions. Perhaps tonight I’ll do something even better.” Zelda downs the rest of her drink, smacking her lips. She holds out the empty cup to him. “Get me another one of these and I’ll figure out a way to stop the Calamity before it happens.”

He rolls his eyes, but takes the mug anyway. When he returns to her it’s full of water, not cider. She pouts, but drinks it anyway. 

“Good evening, Hateno!” The vocalist of the band shouts, drawing the focus of the entire crowd. Everyone begins to applaud, ready and eager to dance. Zelda joins in with them, yelling out an excited ‘Woo!’

“We are so grateful to be here with you, celebrating the annual Harvest Festival. Without further ado, let's get things started!” The vocalist turns to the drummer, the pair locking eyes as they start off the traditional first dance of the evening; an up-tempo, fast paced group dance. 

People flood onto the floor, giggling as they form a large circle and take hands. Link sets both his and Zelda’s mugs on to a table before pulling her out to join the circle. “But,” she stammers, nervousness suddenly taking over her voice. “I don’t know any of the steps.”

“There are no steps.” He takes her left hand in his right, instructing her to grab on to the person next to her as he does the same. 

“Every dance has steps!”

He laughs, nudging her slightly with his shoulder. “You’ll see.” 

The drumbeat builds and builds, until eventually the woodwind player and the fiddler join in, the vocalist singing some simple lines over the top of it all about the joys of a simple life and love for one’s home. And that’s when the people start moving. 

The circle moves clockwise, slowly at first, everyone connected by their held hands. Then, as the song's tempo increases, so does the dance. Eventually people start tripping over grass, laughing all the while, as they try to keep up. As the first chorus ends and goes into the second verse, a man shouts out “Other way!” and the group quickly pivots, now spinning counter-clockwise. Zelda’s body rocks with the speed of the transition, and she nearly falls right into Link. 

“Hang on!” he shouts at her, grinning wildly. She just laughs. 

“Gals in the middle!” a woman screams, and suddenly the group splits in two, the women forming a smaller circle of their own in the center. Zelda looks back at him, confused and delighted, as the two girls next to her take her hands and drag her along with them. Somewhere in the turning of the separate groups, he loses direct sight of her, and can only find her again when he sees her golden head tipped back, roaring with laughter. 

“Back together!” another person commands, and the circles assimilate once more. Not one moment later, someone else shouts out, “Change directions!” causing laughter and some good-natured groans to erupt from the crowd. It’s not good dance etiquette to give an order too soon after someone else already has. Nonetheless, the group obeys. 

“Hylia,” Zelda gasps, smiling as the circle starts to move the other way. She’s clearly out of breath. “Who… But who’s giving the orders?”

“Anyone,” Link answers over the roar of the music. “Anyone can.”

“Anyone?” she turns her head to him, quizzical even as she moves. He nods. She looks back to the center, eyes bright, an idea creeping over her face, before she calls out, “Make it smaller!”

Everyone obeys. The people get closer together, linking elbows instead of joining hands, their steps shortened so as not to trip over someone else’s feet. Someone still does though, and the circle has to stop for a bit so the poor tripper can get back up and rejoin. The crowd laughs, some even booing the person who fell, though it doesn’t feel mean spirited. Even the tripper is laughing. 

“Make it bigger!” someone calls out, and the group expands to its original size. “Bigger!” they scream again, until everyone is spread out to the length of their full wingspan, grasping tightly to the fingertips of their neighbors just to stay connected. 

The drums build, the violin sings, and the vocalist holds out one final note as everyone keeps spinning like their lives depend on it. When at last the final note is struck and the song ends, the dancers collapse into pants and gasps for breath, quickly releasing their neighbor’s hands. Just as quickly, everyone begins to clap and cheer wildly. 

The band bows graciously. “Thank you!” the vocalist calls, waving to them. The applause lasts just a bit longer, at least until the fiddler steps forward and starts up the second piece; another, very similar, upbeat dance. Zelda pulls Link off the floor, laughing breathlessly as the crowd prepares to go again. The group is a lot smaller this time. Apparently a lot of people are exhausted like Zelda. 

“I think I’m going to be dizzy for the next year,” she sighs, holding onto his arms for support. 

Link smiles. “Fun, right?”

“So fun. Hateno dancing might not be world famous, but it should be.” She collects her mug from where Link had placed it down, now very happy that it contains water and not cider. 

They sit out the next few songs, content to simply talk and watch from the sidelines. The kinds of dances vary much more than they would at court; some are done in groups, some in couples, some down a line with partners changing throughout. 

During one of the songs, a bright tune with a swing-like melody, one young couple quickly grabs everyone's attention. The floor suddenly empties out until it’s just them left, the space becoming their own private stage. The young man picks up his girlfriend with ease, tossing her around like she weighs nothing, then extending his arm to let her spin out in a way that looks effortless. The crowd cheers them on, clapping any time they execute a particularly exciting move. At one point, the man dips his girlfriend low, her leg hooked up over his waist, their faces pressed close together. Wolf-whistles and ‘ooohs’ echo through the crowd. 

Zelda leans in to whisper in his ear, a flush burning high on her cheeks. “I see what you mean about people dancing closer.”

They join the floor again when the tempo of the next song is considerably slower. Then again, and again, and again. For some songs, partners are meant to alternate, so he watches from across the floor as Zelda is passed from person to person. During others, the partners stay the same, so he gets to hold her close and admire the sound of her laughter as he twirls her. 

He likes those ones considerably better.

Later in the night a line dance starts, one traditionally done by only women. “Come on!” a girl close to their age calls, pulling Zelda by her arm. “I’ll show you the steps!"

The Princess casts him a toothy grin from over her shoulder, and lets herself be pulled away to the floor.

She’s a little unsure when the music starts, but her confidence gradually increases as the song progresses. The steps are easy and repetitive, and soon enough she’s laughing alongside the girl who pulled her onto the floor, as well as all of the maidens and ladies of town. Link doesn’t even realize he’s smiling until he notices his cheeks are sore. 

“Looks like she’s having fun,” a voice beside him says. He turns and finds his mother, gazing at Zelda, standing beside him. 

“Why aren’t you dancing?” He looks back at the floor. Both of the friends she was with earlier are out there. 

She waves her hand dismissively. “My joints aren’t what they used to be. I don't want to break a hip, now.” He knows it’s a lie, but he doesn’t press her on it. She must have a reason for sitting the dance out.

They watch the dance together in silence. Zelda makes a wrong turn at one point, accidentally bumping into the girl next to her. At first, she’s clearly extremely apologetic. Then the other girl laughs, and soon enough they’re right back into it, the Princess’ head tilted back with a bright laugh of her own. 

“She’s a sweet girl,” his mother murmurs, her smile warm and wistful. “I’m happy for you, Link.” 

He huffs a laugh, scratching at the back of his neck. “She is. And thank you.”

“It’s a shame,” the older woman sighs, sipping her cider. “I have nothing to wear. I’m going to have to make a new dress.”

He frowns. “What?”

She looks over at him, eyebrow quirked and stare pointed over the rim of her mug. “I have nothing to wear to a Royal wedding. Especially if I’m going to be the Mother of the Groom.” She takes a long, meaningful drink.

Link ducks his head, blushing furiously. “Come on, Ma. It’s not like that.”

“Because you don’t want it to be, or because it can’t be?”

A long, weighted silence passes between them. Link peeks up from beneath the fringe of his hair, and finds his gaze immediately drawn to Zelda. She’s so beautiful it almost hurts. 

His mother sighs, setting her mug down. “Link. I know I’ve made a point of not focusing on the whole Hero thing,” and here his lips quirk up, because he can’t help but find it amusing how his mother refers to the incredible weight of his destiny as the ‘whole hero thing’, “but it’s time to face the truth. You are the Hero of Hyrule. And she’s the Princess of Hyrule. Perhaps… It’s not as improbable as you might think.”

It’s small, the shift in his brain that happens as her words hit him. Almost imperceptible. But, like the final piece of a puzzle snapping into place after one had previously thought it missing, it changes everything. Completes the picture. 

It feels like relief. 

“You think so?” His voice is soft, his eyes on Zelda. Dimly, he’s aware of his mother’s hand on his shoulder. Of her voice, even softer than his, and heavy with the weight of joyous tears. 

“I know so.”

The song ends, and the women of Hateno burst out in applause, chatting as they return to the sidelines. His mother squeezes his shoulder, and is gone. 

“Did you see that?” Zelda calls, rushing back into his arms as she catches her breath. “I messed up a few times, but I think I got it in the end and- what’s wrong?” 

Her brow furrows with concern. He shakes his head, trying to snap himself out of his stupor of realization. Clearly, she’s mistaken his overwhelming relief with worry. 

“Nothing,” he reassures her, pressing a quick kiss to her cheek. “Just watching you.”

Her eyes widen, then crinkle at the edges with her smile. She kisses him back, lips pressed just a hair's breadth away from his lips. He wishes it was closer. 

He’s about to kiss her for real, completely ignoring the rules of etiquette regarding public affection, when the band’s vocalist calls out. 

“Alright everyone!” She raises her hands to get the crowd's attention. “We’ve got one final song for you, so we’re gonna slow it down. This one’s for all the lovebirds out there.” 

The violin starts up the song as couples begin to fly onto the floor. Link turns back to Zelda with a smile and an overdramatic bow, which she laughs at. He offers out his hand to her. 

“May I have this dance?”

She giggles, slipping her hand into his with a blush. “You may.”

He leads her out to the floor, pulling her into a close waltz position like the one they did together in her study. The other couples mill around them, rocking together in a dance that’s less like a formal court waltz and more like a sway. The band’s song is slow and sweet, led by the vocalist in a simple, romantic tune. 

“I know this song,” Zelda murmurs to him, delight written all over her face. “My mother would sing it to me when I was little. It was… it was her and father’s song.”

Her gaze turns mournful. Immediately, he misses her radiant happiness. “We don’t have to dance. If it makes you sad-”

“No, no,” she assures, turning back to him. “If anything, it’s a… good sad. They’re happy memories. I just… I wish they were still true.”

He nods solemnly. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be.” She huffs a laugh. “Father and mother would dance to it together, with just her singing, and I would watch. I remember thinking… That’s what true love looks like.” She pauses, eyes flicking nervously up to Link before looking away. She clears her throat. “And I- I also remember thinking… That I wanted to have that one day. Someone to dance to this song with. Someone who… made me feel that way.”

She looks back up at him, all hesitance gone, nothing but determination and something unbelievably soft that he can’t quite name in her eyes. “And I just wanted to thank you. For being that person. For being my person.” 

The feeling her words give him is strange. Like he’s wilting and blooming at the same time. Like she’s just stabbed him clean through the chest but the only thing he’s bleeding is pure love for her. 

Love for her. 

He loves her. 

Something catches in his throat; a gasp, a cry, a smile, he’s not sure. But suddenly it feels like he’s holding back tears and is fighting back the urge to jump for joy simultaneously. Overwhelmed by the sensation of it, he pulls her head to his chest, unable to speak, craving her proximity. She melts willingly against him, humming happily. 

He loves her, he loves her, he loves her. There’s no doubt in his mind, no fear to face the truth, no logical voice telling him that she can’t be his forever. Because now he knows that he loves her, has loved her for a long time, and nothing can ever take him away from her now. 

“Always,” he croaks out, pressing his lips to her hair. “I’ll always be here.”

They stay like that, pressed up together as the song echoes around them, the lantern glow fading to nothing in comparison to the light burning within. 

 

—

 

“Where are we going?” she calls, laughing.

Her hand is intertwined with his as he pulls her behind him. Night has just fully started to fall over Hateno, the lanterns and noise of the village square fading to nothing behind them as they approach his house. From a distance, he can see that all the lights inside are turned off. His mother must still be out with her friends. Perfect. 

“Come on,” he says, pulling her away from the house, making his way towards the back. “I want to show you something.”

The old family barn is dusty and dark, but it’s far from prying eyes and ears. And, he thinks as he leads her up the ladder and into the hayloft, it has the best view of the night sky over Hateno. 

A slight chill has started to permeate the air, but thankfully, the old blanket and lantern are right where he expected to find them. He quickly lays out the blanket, motioning for her to sit, and lights the lantern. Zelda rubs her hands in front of its glow, warming herself. 

“Link,” she laughs, looking at him as he sits beside her. “What are we doing in a barn?”

He gestures to the wide opening in front of them, and to the sky full of stars beyond. “You’ll see.”

Playfully, she rolls her eyes, picking at some pieces of straw before her. 

“There’s one more thing I didn’t tell you about the festival.” He leans back, placing his arm behind her.

She siddles up closer to him, her head on his shoulder. “And what’s that?”

As if on cue, a sharp whistle pierces the night, coming from the land before them. Their heads turn to look out through the hayloft's opening, just in time to catch a vision of golden sparks exploding in the sky before them, followed by an explosive boom!

Zelda yelps, though it quickly melts into a high, relieved laugh. “Oh!” she calls, leaning forward to watch as another explosion lights up the sky. “Fireworks!” 

Flashes of light, in every color of the rainbow, quickly follow the first few. Some are small, just a few pinpricks of brightness in the dark of the sky. Others fill up their whole field of view, ringing out with loud booms and raining down on the earth with a hiss. The floorboards of the hayloft look like they’ve been splattered with rich, colorful paint. 

“Sorry to keep a secret,” Link says, pressing a kiss to Zelda’s temple. “I thought it’d be a good surprise.”

“It is.” He leans back to admire how the lights twinkle even brighter in her eyes. “They’re beautiful.”

She turns to him, a sweet smile splitting her face open, and presses her lips to his. 

“Hey,” he murmurs, keeping his face pressed close to hers.. “You’re missing the show.”

She hums, kissing him again, then again, and again. Her hands are on his cheeks and his are clutching her waist by the time she pulls away to look at him. “The show is nice. But this is better.” 

He has just enough time to watch a firework wash her in the most brilliant shade of pink before sealing his lips to hers once more. 

It’s slow, their kiss. Languid and deep and oh so sweet, just enough to keep him satisfied. Colors play against his closed eyelids. Explosions sound all around them. Zelda presses closer, opening her mouth against his lips. His grip tightens on her body as he brings their tongues together. 

Magic is the only word on his mind as he pulls her even closer; this moment is magic. They’re in a simple barn that he knows like the back of his hand. All the colors of the Earth are bursting to life right above their heads. And the girl he loves, this remarkable, impossible girl, is in his arms. I want to tell her, he thinks as their lips reconnect with a soft click. I need to tell her now.

Surprisingly, it’s Zelda who separates them first, cheeks red with more than just the scarlet firework lighting the sky above them. He’s momentarily distracted by her heaving chest, by her tongue darting out to wet her lips. “Link,” she says, voice insistent and thumbs dragging circles over his face. 

“Yes?”

She takes a deep breath, gathering herself. “Can I-” Boom! She laughs at the noisy interruption, then continues. “Can I ask you a question?”

He nods, briefly ducking down to kiss her cheek. It’s hard to resist. “Of course.”

She nods, taking in another deep breath of air. “You have to promise to answer me honestly.”

“Of course,” he says again. “Always.”

She nods once more, eyes flitting nervously around the hayloft and the firework-filled sky. “I’ve wanted to ask you this for a while, in fact I almost did, but it wasn’t the right time, and I don’t want you to say something just to placate me but-”

“Zelda,” he soothes, taking her hands in his. “What is it?”

A large, golden firework erupts above them, reflecting its brightness into her eyes. Somehow, it seems to give her courage as well. When she turns back to him, her face is timid, yet certain. 

Finally, she asks him her question.

“Have you ever been in love?”

The world goes quiet. 

Her voice, the only thing he’s still able to perceive, the only thing he wants to perceive, recalls him. “That’s what I wanted to ask you, after we… you know,” she blushes.

He remembers. That night, in her chambers. ‘Have you ever…’ she started to say. ‘I will. Just… not tonight.’

She’s wanted to ask him all this time. 

His eyes drift to their hands, still clasped gently between their bodies. Slowly, he lifts one of hers up, pressing a reverent kiss to her knuckle. She gasps softly. 

“Not before, no,” he murmurs. 

Her breath catches. “And now?” she whispers, as if she’s afraid to ask it. As if she’s afraid to know the answer. 

When his gaze meets hers over her hand, bright green fills his vision. Whether it’s a firework or just the color of her eyes, he’s not sure. There wouldn’t be much difference anyway.

Link leans in, cupping her cheek, holding his lips just an inch away from hers. He wants her to feel his words. Wants her to breathe them in, to know they’re real, to understand them.

“Yes,” he says. Like it’s the simplest thing in the world. 

Tears fill her eyes. She smiles, and light explodes around them. An entire spectrum of color and a symphony of sound fills the barn. It’s nothing compared to the sound of her voice. 

“I love you,” she gasps, kissing him quickly before pulling away. “I’m in love with you, Link.”

“Me too,” he chokes out the words like they might be his last. “I love you too. I love you so much, Zel, Gods.” The force of the emotion is almost too much, too crushing, like a hand has reached right into his chest and is squeezing his heart with all its might. 

Thankfully, there’s an easy remedy for that. All he has to do is kiss her. 

Their lips meet again and again, like waves crashing on the shore, like two celestial bodies caught in an endless orbit. “I can’t believe it,” he hears himself gasping out between kisses. She’s crying, he realizes, her tears smearing his face. “I can’t believe it.” 

“I love you, I love you so much,” she half laughs, half sobs. “I’ve known for so long, Link. I’ve wanted to tell you-”

“I’m an idiot,” he confesses, forcing himself to pull away. To look into her eyes as he speaks. “I’m an idiot, Zelda, I knew I loved you, but I didn’t realize-”

“It’s alright,” she comforts him, smiling through her tears. “You know now.”

He shakes his head in disbelief, then presses another kiss to her knuckle. “I can’t believe you beat me. I thought I would say it first.”

She laughs, wiping at her face before pecking him on his cheek. “You know I can’t let you win.”

“I know,” he grins. Blue, green, and bright orange fill the hayloft in quick succession before he kisses her again. 

“Hey,” he says against her lips. “You know this is changing things a lot, right?”

She rolls her eyes, smiling. “You don’t have to keep bringing that up.”

“You were the one who said you didn’t want things to change.”

“I know I did!” She chokes out a laugh. “I meant that I wanted us to still be friends. For things not to get… awkward.”

He presses his forehead to hers. “So… so this is ok?”

“Goddess, yes,” she laughs, emotion filling her voice once more. “Of course it is.” 

Her face crumples into a tear-stricken smile just as a burst of orange fills the hayloft. Before the crash of the firework can follow, his lips are sealed to hers once more. 

He tries to make the kiss sweet, and gentle, and everything she deserves, but it seems she has no patience for that anymore. Her grip is possessive in his hair, greedy fingers carding through his locs as she frantically presses her tongue into his mouth. He wraps his hands around his waist, eager to touch her as she sits up to straddle him. 

“I want you,” she moans, breathless, into his parted lips. “I need you now.”

“How?” he asks, quickly working his fingertips under the folds of her dress. He can feel where her stockings cut off, right above her knees. The flesh of her thighs is soft and malleable beneath his grip. Already, he’s desperate for the taste of her.

Much to his chagrin, she takes hold of his wrists, gently keeping him at bay. “Not like that. I… I want to try…” she sighs, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. “Listen. There’s… There’s something I need to tell you.”

“What is it?” Concern fills his voice. 

“Well… For the last week or so, I’ve sort of… Well.” She flattens her mouth into a line, huffing out a laugh before continuing. “I- I may have been taking… contraceptive elixirs.”

Boom! A firework explodes above their heads the same time his brain does. 

“You- You’ve been…” he shakes his head, blinking rapidly. “Why?”

There’s a brief pause, a moment of suspended awkwardness, before Zelda places her hands on his shoulders. “Don’t tell me you haven’t thought about it, Link.”

There’s no point in denying it. Of course he has. But there’s too many risks, too many consequences that could change their lives forever. I know what kids your age get up to, his mother’s voice echoes in his mind. Don’t knock up the Princess of Hyrule. 

“If you’re worried about… About me getting pregnant, that’s not going to happen. The elixir protects against that. Well-” she stops herself, wincing slightly. “Technically, it only has about a ninety seven percent success rate, but that’s better than-”

“Are you really ready for that? With me?” The words come out before he even has time to think them through. Why is that what he’s worried about? He hadn’t even realized he was worried about it until the question came out of his mouth. 

Zelda softens, hands pressing reassuringly into his shoulders. “Is anyone really ready? I mean, there are things you can do to prepare, and I believe I’ve done all of them, but…” she laughs, shaking her head. Explosions echo all around them. Purple and blue light reflects in her hair. “I don’t know. I love you. You love me. What do I truly have to worry about?”

As he looks into her face, even in the few brief suspended moments of darkness, he can tell she’s certain. Nervous, maybe, but still certain. She wants this. She wants him. 

And he wants her. 

“You’re right. You’re right,” he whispers across the scant space between them. 

Her eyes sparkle. “Are you sure?” He nods. “Do you want this?”

“Yes.”

“Do you want me?”

“Yes.”

She presses closer, their foreheads barely touching. “Do you want to have sex?” 

“Yes,” he answers, panting. “Goddess, yes.” 

He barely has enough time to see her face split into a grin before she’s pulling him in for a kiss. 

There’s no hesitation this time. No need to slow down. They resume their rhythm immediately; Zelda nearly ripping the hair tie from Link’s head, Link fully throwing back her skirts so he can squeeze her hips and thighs to his heart's content. 

“I still need to taste you,” he murmurs, sounding drunk, into her collarbone. “Doesn’t have to be for a long time. Just a bit. Please.” 

She laughs. Dimly, he wonders if it’s due to his blatant desire or how pathetic he sounds. He finds he surprisingly doesn’t care. 

“Very well. But how about we get undressed first, yes?”

He’s quick to comply. Hands work hurriedly; undoing his buttons, unlacing her corset, and pulling layers up and off their bodies. When Link’s tunic gets stuck around his head, briefly obscuring his face from her view, she laughs nearly as loud as the fireworks outside. 

It isn’t until she’s in her shift, him in just his pants, and her spread out on the blanket beneath him that he thinks to slow down. 

“Wait, wait,” he breathes, forcing himself to pull away from her. “We should… I mean, this is- Inside, there’s a bed, we could-”

She stares at him, a bemused expression on her face. “Do you really want to risk your mother potentially catching us?”

A beat passes. “You know, that’s a fair point.”

Zelda giggles, leaning in to peck him on the lips. “Besides. Here is… I mean, it’s kinda nice.”

He looks around. The barn is drafty, and dark, and smells like horse. The hay doesn’t make for a soft bed, and the spiders living in the upper corners aren’t the most welcome guests. 

“No it isn’t,” he frowns at her.

Her face splits into a grin that’s all teeth. “But it’s secretive, isn’t it? Kind of… rebellious. Right?”

He snorts. Then snorts again. And soon enough he’s laughing hard enough that there are tears in his eyes, and he’s wiping at his face to try and get himself under control. 

“Number six; lose virginity in a barn?” he chokes out between his laughter. “Is that what you’re going with?”

She shrugs one shoulder, putting on a very good show of acting like she’s not amused by this at all. “It’s better than nothing.”

Her shrug causes her shift to slip off one shoulder, exposing the long line of her collarbone and the top of a perfect breast. The laughter dies in his throat. It’s hard not to be mesmerized by her body. 

She smirks, noticing his reaction. “Got something you want to say, hero?” She’s teasing, but there’s something so effortlessly alluring about the way she does it. It makes him want to bend down, to press her into the blanket, to drag his lips and tongue all over that beautiful chest. 

So that’s exactly what he does. 

“O-Oh…” she keens, eyes fluttering closed as he bites gently at her skin. He takes his time, breathing her in, eyes closed so he can savor the feel of her, then open so he can watch as colors reflect on her skin. He wants to see more, wants to watch her whole body transform into a canvas for the sky, so he kisses his way down her sternum, slowly exposing her breasts to the open air. 

“You’re so beautiful,” he murmurs, cupping one breast in his palm. His eyes flick up to her face, blonde hair and pale cheeks washed out in bright pink light. When he wraps his lips around the peak of her other breast, her moan echoes louder than the following crash outside. 

“Link,” she gasps, voice little more than a wisp of air. “Please, I…”

“I know.” He presses a small kiss to the valley between her breasts, then allows himself to journey south along her body. Briefly, he considers pulling her shift up and off of her completely, but he quickly decides he doesn’t have the patience for that. Not with the way her legs spread so eagerly for him, baring cotton undergarments to his hungry gaze. 

“I’ve got you,” he purrs, hoisting her leg up on his shoulder. When a light goes off outside, he can faintly make out a prominent wet spot on the cotton of her undergarments. It makes his stomach clench. “Can I- Is it alright if I-?”

She nods frantically. “Yes.”

He dives in immediately, not needing any further permission. Normally, he likes to take his time; smothering her hips and thighs in kisses, or teasing her until she’s half mad. But not tonight. He pushes his face into her center, flattening his tongue to the shape of her as he licks through soaked cotton. 

“Aah!” Her head falls back against the blanket, producing an audible thump. “Mm- Link…” 

She tastes like the cider she’d been drinking, and cool autumn air, and that same indescribable ingredient that always leaves him wanting more. Combined with the sounds of her pleasure, it’s the greatest dessert he’s ever had. 

And he thought she was delicious before. 

Suddenly feeling incredibly impatient, Link tears the damp garment from her body, throwing it off into the darkness somewhere before falling on her again. He whines. 

She sucks in a breath between her teeth. “Mm, wait.” He stops. Gently, she taps at his shoulder, summoning him back up her body until he can look her in the eye again. When he quickly wipes at her mess on his face, she giggles. 

“So messy.”

He grins. “And whose fault is that?”

Zelda smiles, reaching up to cup his face between her hands. “I want you,” she breathes, all mirth replaced by a pure, desperate intention. “How do you… Where should I-?”

“Like this,” he sighs, tipping down to kiss her quickly, “I want us like this.” She props her legs up, framing his hips, as her hands float down to tug greedily at his belt. 

“Take these off,” she begs. 

He scrambles up onto his knees, eager to obey. His belt goes flying in the same direction as her undergarments. He's sure he looks ridiculous as he removes his pants, but finds he doesn’t quite have the capacity to care right now. When he finally manages to tug off his undershorts, erection springing free, Zelda whimpers at the sight. 

“Gods.” She sits up, no hesitance present as she wraps her fingers around the base of him, quickly setting a punishing pace up and down his length. “I’ve wanted this for so long.”

He tilts his head up to the beams of the ceiling, sucking air through his teeth. “Yeah?”

“Yes,” she whispers, now gripping him with both hands. “I’ve thought about it… A lot.”

“Me too,” he takes her by the back of her neck, biting and kissing at the underside of her jaw. “I thought about it too.”

“I want you to… to…”

“Yes?” he murmurs the word into her ear, causing shivers to erupt down her spine. 

She leans back, looking him square in the face, hands still working his cock. “I want you to fuck me.”

He growls, the sound entirely foreign to his ears. “Come here,” he hisses, removing her hands from him and shoving her back down onto the blanket. In the glow of the following firework, he can see her grin.

Brusquely, he takes himself in hand, working the tip of his cock between the folds of her cunt. Her moan is high pitched and desperate, almost a cry. It’s so pretty. She’s so pretty. 

Cognizance returns to him in the form of a crashing firework, finding him breathless and worked up and so incredibly nervous. He freezes above her, eyes locked on her flushed face. 

“You’re sure?” he asks her, cock poised at her entrance. “You want this? You want-”

“Yes, Link, I’m sure. I want you.” She wraps her arms around his neck, pulling him closer to her. Pulling him, just barely, into her. “Please.” 

He nods, pressing one final, searing kiss to her lips before looking down. Gathering his wits, he takes hold of himself once more, and guides himself inside her. 

Zelda gasps. “O-Oh…”

He’s only about halfway inside her when he freezes, heart stuttering. She’s tight, he realizes with a moan, the sensation unlike anything he’s ever felt before. With a shuddering breath he keeps pushing, mind empty except for the echoing of her name in his head.

When he finds he can’t go any deeper, he exhales heavily. “Goddesses…”

Beneath him, she huffs a laugh. He notices that her eyes are squeezed shut. “I know.”

He pulls out slightly, retreating for a moment before going back in. The feeling of it; warm, wet, her, makes him lightheaded. He does it again. And again. Then he realizes that she’s gone silent beneath him.

“I don’t…” he laughs. When he feels her clench down slightly on him, his laugh turns into a moan. “I don’t know what I’m doing.”

“That’s alright.” Her voice sounds reedy; almost distant. Like she’s finding it very difficult to speak. “We’ll figure it out together.”

“Is this okay? Are you-” he shifts his hips, an unconscious jerk, and can barely contain the groan that threatens to surface within him. “Oh, Hylia…”

“Yes, it’s good, just… slowly. Please.”

“Of course.” He forces himself to open his eyes, staring down at her with all the love and tenderness he contains in his soul. He needs her to know how grateful he is, that she trusts him like this. He needs her to feel it. “Tell me if it hurts. I’ve got you, Zel. I’ve got you.”

“I know,” she smiles, eyes opening just as a burst of yellow light fills the space. “I’ve got you, too.”

Her eyes crinkle at the corners. Yellow sparks dance within her pupils. He traces a finger down her cheek, suddenly feeling as if they’re the only two people in the world. “I love you.”

When the explosion finally comes, she kisses him. “I love you, too.” Her arms wrap tighter around his shoulders, breath shaking slightly. “You… You can move now.” 

He does. Slowly at first, just like she told him. His hips rock gently, each thrust causing her to melt further and further into the floor beneath her. Her face softens, eyes no longer squeezed shut, but instead gently closed as she writhes and hums beneath him. 

“Mmm,” she mumbles, a familiar sound he remembers from their time in her study. It spurs him on, encouraging him to press into her a little harder. “It’s good…”

“Yeah?” He kisses her shoulder, hands braced around her waist. 

“Yes. You can-” she hisses, the action causing her walls to squeeze around him. “You can go a little faster.”

He does, eyes squeezing shut with pleasure. The feeling of being swallowed up by her cunt is almost as intoxicating as the way she pulls his hair. She keens up into him, back arching off the floor as she does so. He wraps an arm around her waist, both to support her and to pull her further on him. 

“Is that good?” His voice comes out husky, laced with a desire he fears is starting to control him completely. She nods. “You want more?”

“Yes, I- Ah!” She throws her head back as he starts a punishing pace inside her, hips just as relentless as they are fast. “Link…”

“You’re so gorgeous,” he murmurs, dragging his hands all over her. “I can’t believe you’re mine.”

“Ah,” she sighs, eyes screwed shut with pleasure. Feeling greedy, wanting more of her to cling on to, he rucks up her shift so he can grab her by the thigh, hoisting the leg up and around his waist. “Oh- Oh…” 

“Too much?”

“No, no.” She smiles, sinking her teeth into her bottom lip. “It’s good.” Her eyes are open now, and she stares at him with nothing but fiery intention as she takes his face in her hands and pulls him close. “You’re my good boy, Link.”

He snarls, snapping his hips harder into her as he leans down to bite her neck. She’s practically wailing beneath him, fingers now knotted up in his hair, pulling at the strands possessively. 

“Yes, yes, yes,” she chants the word, her ‘s’ sounds slurring together. He keeps biting her neck, sucking hard enough to leave a mark on her tomorrow. He doesn’t care. 

Yes, the primal part of him says. Show the whole world that she’s yours. 

“Oh, Gods,” her voice comes out as a hiss. She sounds ruined. He loves it. “So deep.”

“I love you, I love you,” he chants into her neck, the words escaping him in one breath. “You’re so perfect, so gorgeous… Fuck, you’re tight.”

“It’s good?”

“Yes, yes, Zelda. Gods, I just-”

She wrenches his head up, yanking him until their faces are pressed together; sweaty and desperate and lost in each other’s eyes. “Fuck me,” she gasps. “Fuck, Link, make me come. Make me-!”

She comes, longer and louder than he’s ever heard her, filthy words and filthy sounds swallowed up by the explosions outside. He can see her head tilting back, a wordless cry spilling from her lips. And, he realizes with a sudden jolt, he can literally feel her seizing up around him; her walls clenching, squeezing. And suddenly he’s right there with her, desperate and pent up and close. 

“Zel-” he falters, forehead tipping to meet hers, mouths open and panting against each other. Breathing the same air. “I’m going to… Zelda, I’m-”

“Inside me,” she whispers, begging, into his mouth. A firework explodes above them, washing her face in blazing scarlet. Her words are little more than a whisper, yet somehow he can hear her over the boom that follows. “Come inside me Link, please.”

Her words ignite something within him. A fire. A bomb. A firework. He moves like a man possessed, pace punishing and relentless. He’s chasing nothing but pleasure. Nothing but the order she’s just given him. 

“Fuck, oh, Fuck-!”

It explodes. Light bursts in the sky, in his body, between their souls. Beneath him, he can feel Zelda’s gasp. He can feel the sweat collecting on their bodies. Can feel himself emptying within her. 

He hangs his head, completely spent, panting open mouthed into her lips. Golden sparks rain down over Hateno, fizzling out in the air with a gentle hiss. To Link, the light looks like it’s fallen straight onto her skin.

“I love you,” she whispers, hands devastatingly gentle as she brushes sweaty hair away from his face. Her eyes are so open. So happy. So full of love for him. 

He kisses her, drinking pure light straight from her lips. When he pulls away to speak, he knows that the words he utters to her are the most important ones he’s ever said. The ones he was destined to say, from the moment he met her. The ones he wants to say to her for the rest of his life. 

“I love you, too.”

 

—

 

A firework has gone off inside the barn.

At least, that’s what he thinks at first.

He sits up slowly, pushing away the blanket he pulled up around them, eyes squeezed shut against the sudden brightness. Was it morning already? That couldn’t be right. They only fell asleep an hour ago. Besides, even sunlight isn’t this bright. 

Eventually, he does manage to open his eyes, blinking rapidly as he struggles to adjust to the blinding gold all around him. He feels around the makeshift bed he made for them, searching for the lantern. There’s no smoke, no heat, but perhaps something caught on fire?

Then his eyes land on the sleeping girl beside him. 

And suddenly, he can’t breathe. 

Zelda, gorgeous, clever, perfect Zelda, is glowing. Actually glowing. Her pale skin has turned fully incandescent, ignited from within by a light all her own. Her right hand is clasped over her chest, loosely holding the blanket in place, the symbol of the triforce burned into the back of it.

Her powers. Her powers. By Hylia, she had done it. 

“Zelda,” he whispers loudly, shaking her gently. “Zel, wake up! You did it! You….”

His voice fades out as he gazes at her sleeping face. Her eyes remain shut, completely blind to the light radiating within her. There’s a soft smile on her face, and she hums contentedly, burrowing further into her pillow of hay.

He breathes out a sigh, pressing a kiss to her temple. When he leans his head back, he gazes up at the roof of the barn and doesn’t try to fight the tears. He knows what they mean. His pride, his joy, his love for her; all manifesting now in this perfect moment. 

He closes his eyes, her light still burning in his soul. For now, he can let her sleep. He’ll tell her in the morning. 

Notes:

Once again, a huge thank you to flowerpower for beta-ing. I truly appreciate it!

I don't currently have any plans for future fics, so it'll probably be a while before I post again (Hopefully not as long as the last hiatus, haha!) I love this fandom and this pairing so much, so i definitely have no plans of stopping. We'll see what happens next!

Thank you all so much for reading 'A Small Rebellion'! I hope you enjoyed <3